The world's most popular room-renting service is now illegal in the largest city in the United …
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Sincerely,Scaredbnb

Dear Scaredbnb,Welcome to the internet. You'll naturally find more complaints and horror stories than you will happy endings. Of course, bad things do happen on Airbnb—I've been through one of those extreme situations myself—but that doesn't mean you shouldn't use their service.

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Understand the Problem

First, we need to understand the situation in New York to get to the bottom of why rentals on Airbnb make some people uncomfortable nowadays. The city of New York has laws and regulations for hotels to protect guests from problematic issues like poor-quality conditions, theft, discrimination, and a variety of other issues. Sites like Airbnb provided a way for large buildings and individuals alike to rent out short-term apartments as an alternative to hotels.

This hurt the hotel business because they were undercut by cheaper short-term vacation rentals that didn't have to pay the city for the right to operate. More importantly for the individual renter, however, a lack of regulation means a higher amount of inconsistency and risk. You might rent an apartment with a vermin problem or that doesn't come with the promised amenities. You may even rent from someone who doesn't own their apartment and can't rent to you per the terms of their lease. You can get stuck in a place you want to leave or get forced out due to violations. When you rent from an unregulated person, you willingly take these sorts of risks.

Rent Intelligently

Whether or not you should rent from a person listing their place on Airbnb depends on a few (mostly personal) factors. Despite the situation in New York, most people understand the difference between renting from a hotel and renting from some dude on the web. While Airbnb verifies information from renters and guests alike, it obviously cannot run thorough checks on all its users to ensure no potentially bad people will use the service. As a result, you just have to approach the situation with common sense and rent diligently. Before you book on Airbnb, you should consider the following:

Know your renter: Take a look at the renter's history. Airbnb users live by reviews, so read up on your potential renter. If any reviews bring up a red flag for you, contact the renter to ask for more information about the problem and what will be done if a similar problem occurs for you.

Talk before you book: While you can instantly book a handful of Airbnb listings you must contact the host first to discuss and confirm a booking in more cases. This allows you the opportunity to explain why you need to rent and learn a little bit more about the host. Look at this as an opportunity rather than an inconvenience.

Consider the price: Some rentals come cheaper than others, and some come a little too cheap. While you won't know fair pricing for rooms and full apartments in a city you haven't visited, common sense can guide you. For example, if you find a very nice apartment listed for $50 per night among similar listings for $100 per night, you ought to question why this one listing costs so much less. In my personal experience, and from the experiences I know of others, the law of "too good to be true" should apply to Airbnb listings as well.

Contact previous guests: If you have any significant concerns, find previous guests to talk to. Airbnb connects through Facebook so you can easily discover if any of your friends know the renter (or know someone who does). I've even come across listings my Facebook friends have booked themselves. You can also ask the renter for references if you want additional assurance.

For the most part, a little research and conversation will do the trick. When I encountered a problematic rental, I saw a few small red flags and ignored them. I might have avoided the issue had I paid closer attention. While extreme situations sometimes happen regardless of your efforts, you can minimize your risk with good preparation.

What to Do If You Encounter an Extreme Situation

Although you may hear about extreme situations on Airbnb from time to time, if you look at all the positive reviews of renters and guests you'll see how often things go well. That said, problems occur from time to time and it helps to know how to handle them so you don't freak out.

I prefer homes over hotels so I use Airbnb often when I travel. During one trip, I rented from a woman who violated the terms of her lease by renting to me. Her landlord flew in from Barcelona, woke me up in the morning to ask me to leave, and proceeded to evict the woman who rented to me through Airbnb. I was out of the United States and did not yet have a functioning cellphone, making it a bit more complicated to find a new place to stay. Through the aid of Wi-Fi I was able to get in touch with Airbnb over Skype and solve the problem pretty easily. I also spoke with Airbnb afterwards to learn more about how they suggest guests handle extreme situations. If you find yourself in a dilemma, here's what you do:

Ask the renter/landlord for time to resolve the issue before leaving the apartment. If asked to leave, most landlords will offer you a little time to get your affairs in order rather than throw you out on the street. You didn't knowingly violate their lease, so if you remain polite they will likely help you. If they force you out, get documentation of the issue before leaving. They cannot physically remove you and will have to call the police if you refuse to go. While not ideal, the police can provide you with evidence of your forced removal. Make your way to a coffee shop with Wi-Fi (or a computer if you don't have one) immediately after you leave. If you simply have an issue with conditions that you can resolve with your renter, this step doesn't really pertain to you.

Call Airbnb. They have many ways in which you can contact them here, but in extreme situations you should use the phone. You can find these numbers by clicking the URGENT button at the top of the page. Make a note of the number you need to call before you go so you have it in case of emegerncy. (It's +1-855-424-7262 in the US, but Airbnb offers local numbers for every country where they operate.) If you can't, do what I did and find an internet connection so you can use Skype. When those options fail, ask for help. If the landlord won't permit you to make a call on his or her phone, you can try walking into a few stores and explaining your situation. People will often sympathize and allow you to make a local call for free, or at least let you pay for one.

Calmly explain the situation to Airbnb. When you call, you'll reach a customer service agent. They'll need to escalate your call, but will be able to help you with the initial issue. Because resolving an extreme situation requires quite a bit of work, you'll find yourself on hold for a little while. Use this time effectively by starting step four.

Find a new listing. You may not feel like renting through Airbnb due to the extreme situation, but rebooking will solve the problem faster than locating a hotel. Airbnb can help facilitate faster booking through a host so it helps to have a new listing ready in advance. Alternative, you can request a refund for your stay

Provide Airbnb with documentation of the problem. Although the situation may seem dire to you, guests can easily lie (and have lied) about extreme situations to move without penalty or get a free stay. As a result, Airbnb must remain fairly neutral. While they helps guests in these situations immediately, if you're seeking a refund you should obtain documented proof of the issue—be that photographs of a vermin issue or evidence of your eviction—so Airbnb can verify your claim quickly and avoid any further issues.

This process doesn't take very long. You can usually resolve an extreme situation in about an hour. While it may seem a little scary, as in some cases you might find yourself temporarily homeless, you can be back to normal pretty quickly. You'll find it easier to remain calm when you've prepared yourself for a problem. When you handle the issue well, it won't seem like much of a problem at all.